Marycrest College (Davenport, IA) Collection

Frances Ruth Harris appears to have graduated from Marycrest College in May 1971. These items are believed to have been collected by her during her enrollment at the college, which was at that time an all female institution. Marycrest was founded as a Catholic women's college in 1939 by the Congregation of the Humility of Mary (CHM) at the request of Bishop Henry Rohlman of Davenport. Initially, Marycrest was organized as a division of St. Ambrose College, and it was incorporated as a separate college in 1954. The North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools independently accredited Marycrest in 1955 and said it "has the potential to be the Vassar of Catholic colleges."[3] St. Ambrose and Marycrest planned to merge in the early 1970s. They chose a new name for the school, Newman College, before the merger was discontinued and both schools remained independent of each other.The school was originally named Marycrest College, became Teikyo Marycrest University and finally Marycrest International University after affiliating with a private educational consortium during the 1990s. The school closed in 2002 because of financial shortcomings. The campus has been listed on the Davenport Register of Historic Properties and on the National Register of Historic Places since 2004.